Method of burning clay for ballast



(No Model.)

J STUBBS. METHOD OF BURNING CLAY FOR BALLAST.

Patented AugnAS 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE STUBBS, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, ASSIGN OR TO CHARLES E. STUBBS, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

METHOD OF B URNING CLAY FOR BALLAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,860, dated August 13, 1889.

Application filed July 1889.

Serial No. 316,540. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, JESSE STUBBs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa,

5 have invented certain new and useful Improve- .ments in the Method of Burning Clay for the Production of Ballast, &c.; and I d odiereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will en- IO able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in the method of burning clay or earth of any kind to produce an extremely-hard conglom- I 5 crate mass of igneous material suitable for use as ballast for railroads and in the construction of road-beds, pavements, and the like. i

The method now most commonly employed 2o to produce this material consists in digging a shallow trench about eighteen inches in width and filling the same with fuel, igniting the fuel, and, when the fire is Well underway, covering the fire with a layer of clay and cov- 2 5 ering the clay with a layer of slack ,or fine coal. After the kiln thus formed has burned about twenty-four hours a layer of clay is added and then a layer of slack or fine coal, and this operation repeated from day to day until the pile or kiln is the desired size-that is, usually, about nine feet in height and fourteen feet in width at the base and tapering toward the top.

The purpose of the trench is to furnish a 5 passage for air under the kiln; but as soon as the wood is burned out the trench fills up with the partly-burned clay, as there is nothing to support it, thus destroying the object of the trench and rendering the further burning of the kiln and cooling of the same uncertain and slow; also, coal fires have been built in the open air and covered with clay and coal, as above described, at intervals, but no provision made for drafts, except the stirring up of the pile by the insertion of crowbars therein at diiferent points in order to prevent the mass becoming solid.

There are no permanent air chambers employed in carrying out any of the methods now in use for the production of the material of the kiln as the fuel burns out.

described, and as soon as the trench used in starting thefire in the method first named above fills up the fire becomes uneven or unequal throughout the kiln, that part receiving air from or through any source becoming hottest and drawing the heat away from the other parts of the kiln, thus causing the clay to be burned too much in some places and not enough in others, causing the kiln to be burned,veryirregular and uneven. This isa great objection, as it is important that ballast of this kind be evenly and uniformly burned.

Now the object of my invention is to do away entirely with underground trenches and to form on top of the ground in the open air permanent air or draft chambers, which will remain open during the entire process of burning, and which will prevent the collapse One of these chambers runs lengthwise through the base of the kiln the entire length of the same, thus permitting the free passage of the air during the entire burning and cooling of the kiln. The other chambers extend from the central or main chamber at right angles, either on one or both sides, as desired, at about twelve inches apart, and thus form numerous air-passages from the extreme edge of the kiln through the side or sides to the center of the same. These last-named chambers also remain open during the entire process of burning and cooling the kiln and permit the passage of air to all parts of the interior of the burning mass. In order to form the chambers, I take a suitable number of iron arches, about six feet in length, fifteen inches in width, and fifteen inches in height, which are so formed as to permit the passage of air. These arches are used to form the main airchamber lengthwise through the base of the kiln by placing them on the ground where the kiln is to be burned with their ends touching each other, and on them is placed wood and coal, which is ignited, thus starting the 5 .fire, which underthe method now commonly practiced is made in the trench referred to above. As soon as the fuel on the arches is well under way a thin layer of clay and then a thin layer of slack or fine coal are placed thereon, which is repeated each day during the burning of the kiln. The arches are left in the kiln until the same is burned and cooled, thus forming a complete air or draft chamber through the entire length of the kiln, which enables the same to be more expeditiously and thoroughly burned than en no draft or air chambers are provided, he sides rendering the process of cooling much more expeditious than it would otherwise be.

To form the air-chambers running at right angles from the main chamber, 1 take iron arches similar to those above described, eX- cepting that they are only about two or three feet in length and taper slightly in the direction of their length from their outer ends to their ends next the main chamber, at which last-named ends they are sloped oif, so as to lit the sides of the kiln, which usually slope at an angle of about forty-five degrees. The bottoms or side edges of these arches are flat and smooth, so that they will slide easily on the ground, and are rounded oil? at their outer ends like sled-runners, so that they may be easily drawn out from the kiln as the burn ing progresses and the kiln enlarges, as will be described.

The short arches are not used until after the burning of the kiln is commenced, but may be used at any time after the same is started. As the burning progresses, the kiln of course becomes higher and wider by the additions of clay and slack, the sides of the same being raked down to form the base of each new course or layer of clay and coal. This base being formed from the partlyburned clay raked from the sides of the kiln, it is sufficient to start the additional courses of clay and coal and thus render it unnecessary to rekindle the tires at the sides of the kiln.

Owing to the increased width of the base of the kiln, it becomes necessary to provide draft openings or chambers laterallyfrom the main chamber; and to accomplish this I place my short arches with their sloping ends against the side of the base at intervals of about twelve inches apart, either on one or both sides of the kiln. The partly-burned particles of clay and coal are then raked down on, over, and about said short arches, and a layer of clay placed thereon, over which a layer of coal is then spread. \Vhen these layers have burned about twenty-four hours, another layer of clay and coal is respectively spread thereon, this operation being repeated at intervals of twenty four hours till the kiln is the desired heightand width. As the raking down of the sides of the kiln and the addition of each new course of clay and coal necessarily widens the base of the kiln, it is obvious that the short arches would become entirely covered and their usefulness as air chambers destroyed if they were left undisturbed after their first setting. To obviate this, I provide each of the short arches with a ring at its outer end, whereby a crow-bar, poker, or other tool may be inserted and the arches moved bodily outward from the kiln from time to time as it becomes necessary, in order to receive the rakings from thekiln to form a base for the new courses of clay and coal.

\Vhen the short arches are first set,it may sometimes be necessary, owing to the character of the clay under treatment, to covcrthem with wet clay, which, when burned, will form a complete roof for the air-ehamber and sup port the kiln when the shortarches are drawn farther out. By thus drawing out the short arches from time to time the sides of the kiln may be extended any desired width and the air-chambers remain the same as though said arches were not withdrawn.

The advantage of the short arches that may be drawn out over longer ones that remain stationary in the side of the kiln is, that ballast is often burned in deep cuts and the kiln formed close to the bank, thus rendering a long arch impracticable, as there would not be sufficient room to set it, but as the bank is cut away to furnish the clay for the kiln the latter may be widened by drawing out the arches, as described.

In carrying out my method I employ arches to form my air-chambers of a 'n'eferrcd form, as will now be described in order to enable a clearer understanding of the same.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I show the arches hereinbefore mentioned, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a kiln provided with my air-chambers; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the long arch for the main chamber, and Fig. 3 a like View of one of the small arches for the lateral chamber.

A represents the main arch, which consists of the metallic bars a, about six feet in length, laid parallel to each other, with narrow spacesbetwcen them on the arch-shaped bars I), to which they are secured in any desired manner.

13 represents the short arches, in which the metallic bars 0 c are laid on the arch-shaped bars d d, with a space between them similar to the bars a, exeeptin that they are laid at an angle or incline toward the inner end of the arch, at which inner end the arch-shaped bar '(Z is set at an angle of about forty-five de grees, so as to leave this end of the arch sloping or inclining, in order to adapt it to fit snugly against the inclined sides of the kiln, and thus prevent the air-chamber formed by the arch becoming clogged with the rakings from the kiln, as it would if the end were perfectly flat or true and the arch laid on the ground with only the ends of its lower corners touching or against the side of the kiln. At the opposite or outer ends of the short arches its lower corners are rounded off, as at c, similar to a sled-runner, and the bottom longitudinal. bars 0 are flattened and smoothed on their faces in order to enable the same to run easily 011 the ground.

0 represents a metallic ring rigidly secured to the outer ends of the small arches to receive a crow-bar, poker, or other tool, in order to draw the arches out, as described above.

It will be seen that in carrying out my method to produce the material described the entrance of air to the entire mass, both as a draft for the fire and as a means for cooling the kiln after burning, is amply provided for, and that it is inexpensive andlabor-savin g in construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of burning clay to produce the material herein described, which consists in forming an air or draft chamber 011 the ground in the open air, making a fire on, over, and about said chamber, covering the fire with a layer of clay, covering the clay with a layer of coal, and drawingthe burning clay and coal, at required intervals of time, toward the sides, preparatory to further covering with layers of clay and coal, substantially as described.

2. The method herein described of producing from clay a hard conglomerate mass of igneous matter to be used, when reduced to particles of a proper size, in the construction of road-beds, pavements, railroad-ballast, and the like, which consists in forming a permanent arch-shaped draft or air chamber the full length of the kiln to be burned, making a fire on, over, and about said chamber, covering said fire with a layer of clay, covering said clay with a layer of coal, forming air or draft chambers laterally from the sides of said permanent chamber, drawing or raking a portion of the glowing mass of clay and coal from said permanent chamber onto said lateral chambers, covering said mass with layers of clay and coal at required intervals, and, as said mass increases in width from the rakings and additions applied thereto, extending said lateral air-chambersand covering them; with a portion of the glowing mass and covering said mass with layers of clay and coal, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE CTUBBS. WVitnesses:

O. D. STUBBS, O. E. SrUBBs. 

